Nintendo Dominated The Game Awards, And Here’s Why

Nintendo was not the recipient of any Game Awards – not a single one. But that didn’t stop the internet from clamoring about what Nintendo did at the show – and that was how they essentially stole the show. And here are the five reasons why.

[Eonjay]

"Nintendo was not the recipient of any Game Awards – not a single one. But..."

Okay thats enough, you can stop. And this has nothing to do with bashing Nintendo. Your thesis that advertisements and PR should be put ahead of actually deserving recipients at an award show is crazy.

[Batchild27]

The argument is that regardless of not winning an award, Nintendo, through the messaging and announcements, were still very much a focal point of conversations throughout and following the show.

[-Foxtrot]

They were only relevant when you saw Reggie on stage...that was it

[Theknightofnights]

@-Foxtrot

Nintendo was also relevant when various exclusive games were announced for the platform and Joker was confirmed for Smash Bros. I'm not sure about the exact data, but despite them not winning an award directly they were a major talking point surrounding the Game Awards.

Regardless of how you personally feel, that does make them relevant as people were talking about them.

[nommers]

The key and elusive word is “Dominated” though in this article. Not relevance or having a presence.

[rainslacker]

That's wierd, because it seems that the overall coverage about the announcements has been pretty even across the board. Bigger games seem to get more coverage, but that's to be expected. Nintendo didn't steal anything. They're getting their due time for what they did have there.

[TheGoodestBoi]

I sure did see Nintendo talked about but it was more for it not winning any awards for the first time in 5 years. A character dlc creating more buzz than the game of the year? Lol get real, bucko

[gamer7804]

Especially their new mua3 phone game they announced.

[Babadook7]

“Nintendo Dominated The Game Awards, And Here’s Why”

So tired of flamboyantly ignorant opinions rising to the top of “news” for gamers. Yeesh.

[Theknightofnights]

I don't see why I'm getting hit with disagrees. People really think Nintendo wasn't relevant during The Game Awards? Or is it their sensitive egos regarding the articles title? I bet it's the latter.

[JackBNimble]

Knight
Probably because if sony or ms were in Nintendos shows this year they would be laughed at. Hopefully Nintendo has better luck next year.

[NarutoFox]

They also announce Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 as an exclusive. I thought that was big news for Nintendo

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

The double standards in this industry when it comes to Nintendo continues. When all is said and done, the Switch is the system where the least amount of new and interesting games were announced and Nintendo won no awards.

To some people, Persona 5 being announced for PS4 would be a smaller deal than Smash Bros getting a Persona DLC character. We shouldn't take those people seriously.

[SuperSonic91]

Yup I smell desperation and sour grapes from that article

[prankster101]

I love you Foxtrot...

[mt]

I don't understand why would people go that far ? well except for money and being blind fanboy.

[Old McGroin]

He's right though, I know more about what happened with Nintendo at the show than I do about which games won what award. And I think that's his point.

[The_Sage]

Fanboy detected...

[deafdani]

I'm not agreeing with the other dude, because I think Ninty's announcements were cool, but nothing really major (though we gotta watch out for that exclusive Marvel Ultimate Alliance game, it could be a hit if made well and marketed well)... but come on, bro. The main reason most of us watch the Game Awards is the new game announcements, not the awards themselves.

[The_Sage]

I watch for new announcements (very disappointed) and game of the year.

[-Foxtrot]

God of War wins GOTY

Forza Horizon 4 wins Best Sports or Racing Game

Red Dead Redemption II wins best Narrative

"bu bu but...Nintendo"

Come on...

[Batchild27]

LOL well I am a pretty big Sony fan but I cannot deny that my entire twitter feed is covered in Nintendo stuff due to that Persona/Smash announcement. It is pretty nuts. They did a great job as making sure they were in the conversation outside of the actual awards themselves, which let's face it, they were not going to win anything. Maybe 2019 will be different for them, but they certainly reminded us that 2019 is going to be a huge year for them.

[AspiringProGenji]

And who isn’t talking about GoW and the winners? Even the “read it boy” moment is being talked on twitter and everyone having a laugh with it

[UCForce]

Sure, but God Of War being GOTY did changed game industry today. So many popular franchise never done something like this and others popular failed to do so. This is soft reboot nailed it. God of War deserves the best direction and best action adventure game. God of War being GOTY at VGA definitely impacted the gaming industry and gaming community at a whole. I’m just saying.

[Theknightofnights]

@UCForce

God of War is a fantastic game, and definitely deserving the award.

As for it winning the award changing the game industry? Well, I disagree with that. It's the game itself that influences the industry, not the fact that it won some award. If it didn't win any awards it'd still have the same impact, I feel.

[UCForce]

@Theknightofnights It’s more about changing industry point of view about the reboot. God of War reboot wasn’t cash grab like others. You can reinvent the franchise if you done it properly. And God of War showed it.

[outsider1624]

"my entire twitter feed is covered in nintendo stuff.."
Ok...

[rainslacker]

Making some waves, and dominating are two very different things.

That said, your twitter feed isn't really representative of the entire internet. I see more time being given to the various winners of awards, and some of the other big announcements that were made. Some of those announcements were from Nintendo...but I'd say that is far from dominating.

[JesusBuiltmyHotrod]

LOL you are in your own bubble dude.

[Bronxs15]

My entire twitter feed is also dominated by Nintendo. I also only follow Nintendo of America Nintendo of japan nintendo enthusiasts Nintendo fan etc.

[jagermaster619]

Honestly was a little shocked Gow won over RDR2 but then again I haven't played Gow. Either way good for them and everyone else who got awards!

[FallenAngel1984]

Lmao games on a Nintendo platform didn’t win many awards yet Nintendo itself won the award show?

[Batchild27]

No. They just dominated the conversation after/during for the most part.

[JesusBuiltmyHotrod]

But they never..thats the point.

[JackBNimble]

No... I think Nintendo was just happy to be there. I wonder what the community would say if sony or ms didn't win anything this year ?

[Benjaminkno]

They did steal the show the conversation and the momentum

[Thundercat77]

Since when "dominating" the conversation was more important than actually having games that won awards?

This is ridiculous!

[chris235]

delusional, much @blogger?

[Blu3_Berry]

Eh, not really.

[Stanjara]

God of War was such a huge risk for the development and direction that absolutely deserves the award. Making Cratos not able to jump, with a little kid side character, avoiding multiplayer and shady practices like micro transactions and loot boxes and still, having the success that is has brings hope to the industry. Now, every success is unique and it has its own reasons and should not be copied just like with Nintendo and it's hardware.

[rainslacker]

While I greatly respect how the game was released, I think it deserved to win because of the story and the actual quality of the game. I think it took a lot of guts to make such a drastic change to the game design of the series to go this route, and while they did get criticism before release, I think a lot of those critics came to respect what they actually delivered. Some may still have preferred it be more like the originals, but its hard to ignore the quality of the game itself. Plus, it had a great story, was fun to play, and kept a lot of the original feel in tact, while actually growing Kratos as a character....something they haven't done much of in the entirety of the series before.

They even went one step further and made the annoying kid escort vital to the gameplay. A controllable NPC who is actually useful, and has more than nerf bullets to shoot at enemies. Something some cover shooters should look at for future implementation IMO. It's something that is sorely overdue for the genre, and it could very well be that GOW set a new expectation for NPC's in games where you have other people following you around, to actually be useful, instead of just window dressing with the illusion of productivity.

[Stanjara]

Absolutely agree!

[TekoIie]

"God of War was such a huge risk for the development and direction"

Let's be honest it wasn't. Just because you have naysayers within the company doesn't mean what they say was ever correct.

Him not being able to jump is not a risk and anyone who says otherwise doesnt understand game design. If anything removing that element allows for a more focussed combat system. Also, a little kid side character is a risk? Im sorry but after Bioshock and Tlou there is no way that you can call this a risk anymore.

"avoiding multiplayer and shady practices like micro transactions and loot boxes and still, having the success that is has brings hope to the industry."

I'm sorry have you just come out of an EA board meeting? Because if these are risks then you're telling me single player games aren't very successful. GoW is a very good game but the 7th or 8th instalment to a franchise cannot be considered a risk when you've had other successful franchises reinvent themselves and be positively received.

Single player games have always been successful and if anything we see bigger failures from multiplayer focussed titles.

[UCForce]

It is. But of course, you don’t want to give SSM a credit for what they reinvented this franchise. I’m sorry, but you just know little. A lot of people on internet and YouTube want God Of War to win and it did.

[Stanjara]

I'm sorry to tell you this but everyone in the industry has a EA meeting.

Look what happened to Tomb Raider, having the same game third time, and fallout changing single player game to multi. It's hard now days to invest in single player.

Nobody saw gow vision as success till the very end of development

[TekoIie]

@UCForce

"you don’t want to give SSM a credit for what they reinvented this franchise."

Eeeer when did I trash the game? If you want to talk about what the game did good and bad then start a conversation and I'll join in.

"I’m sorry, but you just know little."

kek

@Stanjara

"I'm sorry to tell you this but everyone in the industry has a EA meeting."

No rewind and re-read what you wrote. You said it was a risk to not include loot boxes, multiplayer and microtransactions. This has been proven false so many times that if you believe it you're out of touch with the industry. Sony is among the studios that prove this many times. They've not really had a multiplayer success for this entire generation. Every major release from them is SP focussed. They've of course had games with a multiplayer portion but it's never been the center of attention from them, the media or the community.

"Look what happened to Tomb Raider, having the same game third time, and fallout changing single player game to multi. It's hard now days to invest in single player."

Tomb Raider dropped the multiplayer after the first's community died in less than a week. The most they've done is co-op with the more recent instalments. Also Fallout failed.... But it should be a huge success according to you, yes?

Two bad examples and even if they were good examples they dont prove an industry trend.

"Nobody saw gow vision as success till the very end of development"

You know thats not true.

[UCForce]

You are not trash the game, but you definitely doubt them way too much. And please, don’t make a long statement. Because you just make whole things unnecessary and boring. And again, you only know little.

[TekoIie]

@UCForce

"Because you just make whole things unnecessary and boring. And again, you only know little."

No I just don't accuse people of saying things they haven't said. If you can't handle a paragraph directed at ya it's not my problem.

[Shinox]

"God of War was such a ***huge risk*** for the development and direction that absolutely deserves the award"
You have got to be kidding me !! what risk are you talking about you make it sound like they did an oldschool risk , its just a scripted cinematic experience like any scripted cinematic we play in today's gaming

[bluefox755]

Lol, okay.

[bigmalky]

I hope your site name is a play on words, and you haven't typoed Dual...

I also can't read articles that have "and here's why" in the title.

[Batchild27]

Yes. It is a play on words.

[bigmalky]

That was an honest statement btw, not a dig lol.

[inxine]

wait, did we watch the same show?

[prankster101]

Who writes garbage like this? Loser companies never dominate anything.

[King_Noctis]

Did you call Sony a loser as well last year?

[Batchild27]

Hi - I wrote it. I think it may be possible that you may be misunderstanding the tone of the article. Perhaps that is my fault. I am saying that the conversation following (On multiple podcasts as well as twitter, and the indie dev community) was about how Nintendo came swinging, regardless of not winning an actual award. The first Mortal Kombat (not to mention it being a game across all platforms finally) since 2007 on a Nintendo device, MUA3 being exclusive, plus all the talk about what Reggie's shirt means...it was dominating so many different social media sites. That was the point of the article. Not to crown a "winner". Obviously God of War and Red Dead 2 won physically. Nintendo won the conversation in the end, in my opinion.

[ChasingTheSun]

"Nintendo won the conversation in the end" LUl. You're part of the reason that many people consider nintendo fans the most delusional and insecure fanbase out of the sony, ms, nin fanbases. I should write a long article also because sony won the conversation in the end.

Enjoy your jaggy cel-shaded last gen looking marvel game because i know you guys at delusional land err i mean nintendo land think getting some ugly 3rd party game was some kind of earthshattering blockbuster.

[SuperSonic91]

Hold that big L Nintendo

[Segata]

Eh? RDR2 did. If not for GOW, RDR2 would have swept nearly everything. Nintendo had 2 cool trailers but plenty of other stuff was shown as well.

[jelloaceomega]

Its okay Nintendo theres always next year. Who knows maybe next year Nintendo will release another zelda game to win another The Game Awards, and we always need a new Zelda game since the franchise is so innovative, and well received.

[VenomaX]

Is this article for real? Basing it on Twitter depends on who you follow. My Twitter feed didn’t have much on Joker but blew up with MK 11 stuff. They made some headlines. Didn’t dominate anything in any way

[Batchild27]

It's strange, because my twitter is mostly Kinda Funny/Giant Bomb/IGN groups. None of those are particularly Nintendo skewed. Playstation if anything...but it wasn't just Twitter. I am part of many other communities and it was overall a pretty shocking thing to see Nintendo being constantly brought up. Hell - even Sonic Fox & Celeste dominated the conversation more than the actual big award winners in RDR2 and GOW.

[VenomaX]

Sonic Fox was making noise for other reasons. It blew up when he posted a pic of him and Ed Boon. Again like I said there’s no domination anywhere for Nintendo. MK 11 coming for the Switch is big but MK itself was the big deal. Also those sites/communities/Twitters blew up on GoW winning also. Joker coming made articles yes, but didn’t do anything in terms of dominating in anything other than Nintendo communities. Not too long after that story died anyway

[manaxknight1]

I liked the article and am stoked for mua3. The author did his job to get folks to read his article and spend their own time to chime in and criticize.

[Batchild27]

Thats the idea! I am okay with people having a conversation that is in contrast to my own opinions. It is just strange how people continue to blindly attack my integrity when the article was meant to be a fun celebration of a strong showing by Nintendo, regardless of losing every category! haha!

[michellelynn0976]

Because a certain group on here don't want anyone to be successful other than their favorite company. That's why.

[JesusBuiltmyHotrod]

LOL....spin, spin, spin...

[Batchild27]

I believe the song is "turn turn turn" but you get it!

[Batchild27]

Oh hey for the record: God of War is my game of the year. Didn't play Red Dead 2, but plan on it during the next lull. Thank for the comments and banter. Keep it friendly if you can. We are all part of this amazing community and should always strive to build each other up, not tear each other down. Be excellent to each other!

[Protagonist]

The delusion of nintendo fanatics is real for sure... but this... smh... this is another level of stupid.

[Platformgamer]

yeah, exept the fact that nintendo games didn't won a single award (i giggled when overcoocked 2 won as best party game, how satisfying ahah) and a smash bros character reveal doesn't make you rule the entire show.
nintenfanatics at maximum power!!!

[ChasingTheSun]

overcooked 2 is on every console and pc, LOL. But of course, nintendo fans will hype of any indie game because its on switch and its portable.

[Platformgamer]

best party game: overcoocked 2.
that should shut the fuck up the article writer and let him/her go hide somewhere ahahahah

[RDF]

What?

[Benjaminkno]

Yea I remember The Last of Us winning game of the year.

That is so boring, I just didn’t get it.

[Supernintendo85]

@eonjay, Nintendo fanatic here. Completely agree with your statement. Lol. Some of us do try and justify reason, and sometimes it’s valid. In this situation though, you are 100% right.

[warriorcase]

Anyone else ever see "And Here’s Why" in an article title and start to close the page?

[subtenko]

noone dominated anything except for the moment Kratos got in character on stage

[spektical]

not sure how nintendo "dominated" with no awards at an awards show. THey had a presence though.

[iplay1up2]

Nintendo has won it's fair share of awards. Not this year, but every other year. I personally am glad Red Dead did not get GOTY. It beautifully done, but seems sluggish.

[3-4-5]

Foxtrot is a huge sony fanboy...it's pathetic.

[kevnb]

Does it matter? I don’t even care what the people running the show choose to win any awards.

[DreadGara]

After reading this all i have to say is Nintendont boys are really annoyed for not having any cookies from the award.
What exactly did they have this year to be bothered this much anyway???

Reading the headline for this article makes GOTY so worthless, that's a relief for some folks I guess...smh

[lellkay]

This is just one them absolutely classic "Nintendo win everything every time" posts. Nintendo won nothing at the show, but they brought some nice announcements along to make the most of the show.

[michellelynn0976]

@bloop Lol Wow, what a comeback. Mario has done more than Kratos ever will for the gaming industry, deal with that. And, I am asking a question. I've played the game, but instead of getting answers, I get defensive, petty comebacks. Which is telling me it did nothing new at all.